Federal agents conducted a pre-dawn search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning. According to sources who spoke to Fox News, the raid originates from a criminal fraud probe concerning the congresswoman's immigration documents. Her deceased father originally submitted the files in question during her childhood. This action coincides with new documents showing no official record of her father's naturalization as a U.S. citizen.
Nur Omar Mohamed, Ilhan Omar's father, possesses no official documentation confirming naturalized U.S. citizenship. An information officer at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducted a "diligent search" but found "no record" relating to him or any name variants. AJ Kern, who ran against Omar in a 2022 primary, requested this info during her own campaign. She received an answer only in September 2023, according to the New York Post.
These findings complicate claims that Omar became a citizen at age 17 in the year 2000. She has stated that her father became a naturalized citizen, which would have granted her derivative citizenship.
In her memoir, Omar says little about her father, Elmi. She asserts that she barely spent time with him and avoids using his surname. However, an obituary described him as "an esteemed senior officer in the Somali National Army. The New York Post reported that the Sahan Journal publication stated he "joined the Somali National Army after obtaining a military education in Russia. This starkly contrasts with her vague description of him as merely an educator.
In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested that federal investigators are looking into whether Omar's family secured refugee status through fraud. Mullin made it clear that lying to immigration authorities is a federal crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Mullin stated bluntly regarding the potential outcome of their probe: "All of this we are investigating. … If we can prove it, that you shouldn't have been here in the first place, we will deport you." The allegations include claims that Omar's family used a false name to enter the U.S. as part of another Somali family. Some reports suggest her siblings entered the UK under different names while she supposedly secured a sham marriage to bring her brother to the States.
The investigation is active, and the legal stakes remain high for any proven fraud. Lying to secure humanitarian relief is a serious offense under federal law. While the connection between the missing records and the specific timing of the raid is not fully confirmed, the overlap is undeniable. The Washington Examiner reports that the early-morning search was part of this broader criminal fraud investigation.
